Series: Access Cambridge Archaeology unpublished report series

Over the Friday to Sunday of the 7th-9th September 2018 a community-based excavation was undertaken in the back garden of 186 Gwydir Street, Cambridge, also known as the David Parr House. A total of 16 small archaeological test pits were excavated in a grid formation across the back garden by 47 local volunteers. The test pitting was organised by staff at David Parr House in conjunction with Access Cambridge Archaeology (ACA) and the Cambridge Archaeological Unit (CAU) and funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund (formally the Heritage Lottery Fund). The results showed evidence of occupation relating to the Parr family from the late 19th century onwards, around the time when the house was first built, including numerous personal objects, such as coins and buttons, as well as toys and partial pet burials. Prior to the construction of Gwydir Street, this area around Mill Road was open fields, situated to the east of the historic core of Cambridge. Relatively low levels of Late Anglo-Saxon, medieval and post medieval pottery were also all recorded in the garden, representing the agricultural manuring of the fields, rather than occupation. A scatter of lithics were also identified, potentially dating to the later prehistoric and no evidence for Romano-British activity was found.

A total of seven trenches were opened in a field to the northeast of Goldingham Hall over a three year period, the first of which was funded by Managing a Masterpiece, a Heritage Lottery Funded project for communities along the Stour valley between 2010 and 2013 and run by Access Cambridge Archaeology (ACA) based in the University of Cambridge. The following two years of excavations continued with the ever encouraging support of the land owner Ashley Cooper and funding from the newly formed Stour Valley Community Archaeology group. The excavations followed on from fieldwalking also undertaken by ACA and Managing a Masterpiece in 2012. This report details the results of all three years of excavation at Goldingham Hall, Bulmer, in north Essex between 2013 and 2015. The main focus of occupation identified during the excavations was found to be between the 11th and 14th centuries, but there were indications that occupation was evident from much earlier during the Anglo Saxon period from about the 6th century AD. A large, possible medieval manor site was identified during the excavations as a kitchen area was noted with a number of clay ovens, at least one structure, large storage pits and possible further outbuildings and paddocks, as well as evidence for additional large boundary ditches. The general absence of any post-14th century pottery certainly suggests that the site was abandoned at that time. A number of residual worked flints were also excavated from across the site that hints at the utilisation of the landscape between the Mesolithic and the Early Iron Age along the Stour Valley and its tributaries, such as the Belchamp Brook. The additional finds of Late Bronze Age to Early Iron Age pottery also suggested the presence of a settlement nearby, although no structural evidence was noted in the trenches.

In 2012 a small archaeological excavation was undertaken in the grounds of Ridley Hall Theological College by a number of volunteers, including sixth-form students and members of a local archaeology group, who were supervised and directed by Access Cambridge Archaeology at the University of Cambridge in collaboration with Ridley Hall. The aim of the excavation was to identify, record and analyse any archaeological evidence surviving on the site of a proposed new building while also providing the opportunity for volunteers to learn new skills and experience aspects of life and learning at Cambridge University.

Over ten days from the 8th August to the 19th August 2011, three trial trenches were excavated on and around the motte at Mount Bures in Essex. An additional eight small archaeological test pits were also excavated in pasture fields surrounding the motte and the churchyard as well as in private gardens through the village of Mount Bures. Excavations were undertaken by local residents, members of various local archaeological and history societies, as well as numerous volunteers. The excavations were organised as a community training excavation by Access Cambridge Archaeology, in conjunction with the Managing a Masterpiece project funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund.

This report details the project design, results and interpretations of archaeological investigations in August 2013 in the interior of a circular earthwork enclosure, defined on the HER as a medieval moated site, in Castle Close, Sharnbrook. The excavation was funded jointly by the Heritage Lottery Fund 'All Our Stories' scheme and the Arts and Humanities Research Council R4CH 'Cambridge Community Heritage' programme. Excavation over four days of a 2m2 trench within the circular earthwork exposed a hearth or oven with associated stoke hole and parts of several other features hinting at the presence of one or more built structures, all dated by associated pottery to the 12th century AD. The character of the features appeared to be largely domestic, although some specialisation is indicated and the presence of a sizeable assemblage of horseshoe nails supports the suggestion that the site was moderately high-status. Occupation was short-lived, certainly spanning less than a century and possibly only a decade or so. The date (12th century) and the form (circular and embanked) are both atypical of moated sites and the site is now better defined as a small, late ringwork: it may represent a transitional phase between ringworks and moated sites. Historical records suggest it may have been the documented 'bury' of Trikets manor. The likely context for its construction is the Anarchy of the early 12th century and it was probably abandoned after Henry II came to power in 1154 AD.

Two-day test pit excavations were undertaken in the small village of Binham in north Norfolk between 2009 and 2013. In that time a total of 59 1m2 archaeological test pits were excavated by 154 local secondary school children as part of the HEFA programme run by (ACA) out of the Department of Archaeology at the University of Cambridge. The excavations were coordinated with members of the Binham Local History Group who also excavated 17 of the test pits themselves, under the direction and supervision of ACA. The test pitting in Binham revealed a range of activity dating from the later prehistoric period through to the modern day. The large amount of lithics that were found scattered through the majority of the test pits suggest that the River Stiffkey played a significant part in the early settlement at Binham that was also favoured during the Roman period with its higher ground for occupation, the light soils for agriculture and the Roman road that run north-south through the parish for trade and transport. Its position slightly inland from the coast would have also offered a degree of protection from coastal raiders. The village of Binham as a settlement that can be seen today has its origins during the Early Anglo Saxon period with a particular focus in the Westgate area of the village before extending east during the Middle Anglo Saxon period onwards opposite the site of the medieval priory. The construction of Binham priory greatly affected how the village developed through the medieval period, with the construction of a new market area to the east of the priory that today is considered to be the centre of the village. It was the dissolution of the monasteries and the Black Death that also played a significant part of the decline of the village during the later medieval that was also slow to recover during the post medieval. The layout of Binham today was established by the 19th century when the population of the settlement was also at its peak.

Two-day test pit excavations were undertaken in the village of Carleton Rode in south Norfolk over five years between 2007 and 2011. In that time a total of 57 1m square archaeological test pits were excavated by 155 local school children as part of the Higher Education Field Academy (HEFA) programme run by Access Cambridge Archaeology (ACA). The test pitting in Carleton Rode revealed a range of activity dating from the later prehistoric period through to the modern day, both supporting what has already been found through the parish as well as providing new archaeological evidence. The nature of the test pits allows excavations in otherwise inaccessible places for the normal methods of commercial archaeological investigation, and it showed that some earlier phases of occupation in Carleton Rode still exist under the present settlement, despite the widespread level of disturbances and modern development. The earliest of the activity identified dated to the Bronze and Iron Ages and was split between the northern banks of the River Tas in the south of the parish and the north, where the majority of the current village now occupies the higher ground. The Romano-British farmsteads or small settlements already identified on the HER were mostly also continued into the Anglo Saxon period, likely due in part to the location of the village today at the source of the River Tas, which joins the River Yare just south of Norwich. The village continued to grow through the medieval period, with a lot of the settlements sited along the edge of the commons, contributing to the dispersed nature of the village that is still seen today. Carleton Rode was however likely also severely hit by the Black Death during the 14th century, the decline in population forcing the village to contract. From the 16th century however, settlement was once again expanding and growing into the village seen today, including expansions out into the former common lands.

Two-day test pit excavations were undertaken in the village of Castor on the northern banks of the River Nene, just west of Peterborough in north Cambridgeshire between April 2009 and July 2011. In that time a total of 23 1m2 archaeological test pits were excavated by 87 school pupils from 10 local secondary schools as part of the Higher Education Field Academy (HEFA) programme run by Access Cambridge Archaeology (ACA) out of the Department of Archaeology at the University of Cambridge. The excavations in Castor were aided by the Benefice of St Kyneburgha. A few lithics were excavated from a small number of test pits but it was during the Roman period and the development of the Roman town Durobrivae on the southern banks of the River Nene that created the wealth and prosperity so that the Praetorium, a huge palatial structure, was able to be constructed on the high ground overlooking the town, river and major roads of the period. Additional Roman structural remains were also recorded through a couple of the test pits that may have been part of this palatial complex. The site at Castor continued to be occupied during the Early Anglo Saxon period, the excavations supporting the location of one of the supposed Saxon and medieval manor sites at Manor Farm. The evidence suggests the development of the village as we know it today, began in the Late Anglo Saxon period and continued to expand during the high medieval, but the settlement never developed into a later medieval market town, likely due to its proximity to Peterborough as well as suffering from the various socio-economic factors of the 14th century, including the Black Death as a clear shift in settlement activity was noted.

This report presents the results of the 'Dig and Sow' programme of excavation of 29 1m2 archaeological 'test pits' in the Essex parish of Clavering in spring 2012. The excavations were part of 'On Landguard Point' an arts project funded by Arts Council England via its 'Artists taking the Lead' programme for the Cultural Olympiad of the London 2012 Olympic Games. The aim of 'Dig and Sow' was to enable members of the public to experience places familiar to them in a new way by excavating in private gardens and other open spaces within living East Anglian communities, searching for archaeological evidence left by people who lived in those communities in the past. Over a single day, more than 150 people took part in the excavations in Clavering which produced thousands of finds and provided new evidence for the development of settlement in the area from the prehistoric period onwards.

This report presents the results of a programme of archaeological excavation of 30 1m2 'test pits' in the Leicestershire village of Great Bowden carried out in summer 2013 and 2014. The programme was funded by the Heritage Lottery with the aim of engaging the local community in their heritage. Scores of people from the local area took part in the excavations which provided new evidence for the development of the area now occupied by the village from the prehistoric period onwards. This appears to have lightly used by humans in the prehistoric period, but in the Roman period two sites, one (near the later church) considerably larger than the other, were present underneath the present village footprint. No evidence was found for activity in the 5th -9th centuries AD, but finds of late Anglo-Saxon pottery, especially Stamford Ware, indicate a thriving settlement newly founded between the mid 9th- mid 11th centuries. The test pit data clearly show the settlement to have grown rapidly into a large and densely packed village which retained some dispersed character arranged around greens and ends after the 11th century. The settlement experienced relatively little decline after the 14th century, and expanded again in the post-medieval period. The excavations were carried out by members of Great Bowden Heritage and Archaeology Society and residents of Great Bowden with advice from Access Cambridge Archaeology using ACA's standardised excavation and recording methods. The site reports and background history were drafted in the first instance by members of Great Bowden Heritage and Archaeology Group and the final edited report with analysis of the results was prepared by Access Cambridge Archaeology.